In an exclusive interview with Benswann.com, Jim Fox, the scout
leader of the Mid-Iowa Boy Scout Troop 111, explained what happened
earlier this month at a checkpoint along the Alaska – Canada border.

At the check point, one of the boys took a picture of the border
agent and "threw the agent into a frenzy." According to Fox, the agent
immediately confiscated the camera, told the boy that he could be
subjected to 10 years of prison or a $10,000 fine. The boys and driver
were escorted inside the border patrol station.

"The border agent tried to bait me. He wanted to get a reaction out
of me and I did not give it to him," said Fox. The border agent didn't
want Fox to follow him while he searched the van because Fox might turn
over "search techniques to the undesirables."

One of the agents asked to see one of the bags of the scouts. One
scout knew where the bag was and tried to get the bag to assist the
agent. That's when Fox said an agent had a loaded pistol pointed at the
boy.

Fox said that the boy thought the agent was going to shoot him and
got back into the van. "They were sitting there scared to death," said
Fox.

"And for our government to take these young men and
illegally search them and illegally seize and pull a weapon on these
kids — something is wrong."

Benswann.com's Joshua Cook asked Fox, "Did you feel at that moment that you still lived in America?"

"No," said Fox. "I didn't and neither did the boys."

Fox said that they have experienced this type of intimidation before
with the TSA in Orlando, FL. In the Orlando one of the eagle scouts
accidentally dropped his boots after going through a full search.

One of the officers said, "..if that boy doesn't calm down I will
arrest him and remove him from this airport." Fox asked the officer,
"what did the boy do?"

Senator Chuck Grassley told Fox News,
"It's outrageous that a border patrol agent would point a gun at a boy
scout just for taking a picture," he told the television station. "It
just doesn't make sense."